Undergraduate / Oliver! - my treasured jeep patriot who gets my credit for facilitating my transition into adulthood [4]

Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family.

From the moment I met him, I knew we were meant to be. Dressed in white with the sun glistening on his body, he resembled a goddess. There he was, resting in the parking lot. I could not help but smile from cheek to cheek. Oliver, as I would come to call him, is my treasured jeep patriot who deserves the credit for facilitating my transition into adulthood.

On the night of August 18th, the day after I got my license, my parents called me into their room. From the look on their faces, I knew they were about to bring up a serious topic. My mom broke the silence with, "There's something we need to tell you." My mind ran through the multiplicity of possibilities that could be that "something". My dad broke my train of thoughts by saying, "Now that you have your license, we think it would be beneficial for you to have your own car!" Was I hearing him right?! Are my parents going to buy me a car? I was in disbelief. I have never even asked for a car before because I knew the possibility of my parent's buying me a car was up there on the list of impossible things right next to my parents buying me a unicorn.

The next morning, my parents and I drove to Ramsey Auto Group to pick out my potential soon-to-be prized possession. I walked into the auto shop and was welcomed by an array of wranglers, cherokees, and renegades waiting for me to choose one of them to be the lucky winner. However, none of those cars were in our price range. The sales associate lead my parents and I outside to a more reasonable model. There it was, my dazzling white beauty, standing out amongst the others.

That afternoon, as I drove home in my new car, I began to think of ways to personalize this car to fit my personality: unique. First, I had to decide on a gender and a name. The obvious choice for gender was a male because he looked so dashing in his white suit. For his name I decided on Oliver, the name of the perfect boy whom I had a crush on all throughout middle school. Next, I stopped at a convenience store and bought him a tropical scented car freshener. Now, everything down to scent was representative of me.

But, with my new car came a new band of responsibilities. I now had to pay for half the insurance, fill my own tank, and pick up my brothers from school. These new responsibilities refined my everyday life as well. I no longer needed my parents to tell me to clean my room or to practice piano, I learned to do them on my own. Aside from these responsibilities, Oliver brought me a new found freedom. Gone were the days where I had to rely on my parents for rides to volleyball practices or to my friends' houses. The ability to simply get in my car and drive myself gave me a sense of autonomy none like any that I had experienced before. I was now an independent woman, racing away from childhood, towards adulthood in her white chariot.

Undergraduate / pb&j's - Peanut butter jelly! Common app essay [2]

I chose topic #4 about transitioning from childhood to adulthood.

I heard my stomach growling as I sat in Mrs. K's classroom waiting for the lunch bell to ring. It was my first day of Kindergarten and I was already anticipating lunch. When the lunch bell rang, Mrs. K ordered all of us, 4 years olds to take our lunches out of our backpacks and line up in an orderly fashion by the door. We did as we were told.

Once we got to the lunchroom, I excitedly opened up my first ever brown-bagged lunch and pulled out a flattened piece of bread with pink and brown substances oozing out of it. I thought to myself, "Ew! What is this?" I examined it for a few more minutes then decided it was too disgusting to eat and threw it away. For the next 25 minutes, I awkwardly sat there, biting my nails, waiting for the rest of the class to finish their meals. I hoped my mom wouldn't pack me that gross meal again. To my disappointment, the next day, when I opened up my brown bag, I saw that identical sandwich, except this time it wasn't squashed. I decided to at least take a bite of it. So, I gingerly took it out of the plastic bag and held it up to my nose. It kind of smelt sweet, but also salty. I took a bite of it, and immediately hated it. It was gooey and gross! Once again I threw it away in the trash and sat waiting for my classmates to finish.

For the next month, I repeated that process of opening my brown bag and being disappointed to see the same lunch. Finally, I decided to ask my mom why she packed me the same lunch everyday. My mom responded, "A peanut butter and jelly sandwich is the most common American lunch!!" I asked her why she thought it was necessary to pack me a common American lunch; why couldn't she pack rice and dried seaweed for me? Her tone changed to a more somber one as she responded, "I want you to fit in with the other kids!"

Having immigrated to the United States only a year prior, as a four year old, I had no idea what American culture was like. The only English I spoke at the time was what I had managed to learn from watching Clifford on Sunday mornings. And the only American food I had tried was a burger from McDonald's. So I realized, my mom packing me a pb&j **inappropriate to say pb&j? spell it out? sandwich everyday was her efforts of helping me to fit into American society.

At the tender age of four, I had the realization that most people don't have until their teens or adulthoods. I uncovered the fact that although I may not be able to see it directly, every little thing my mom did was for my benefit. Even now, when my mom is nagging me to write my college essay or study for my SATs **may be slightly inappropriate to use term nagging, or talk about college apps, kind of puts myself in a negative light I think about the pb&j sandwiches and know it's for my benefit.

Undergraduate / "Study for the benefit of others. Why not change the world?" Boston College Supplement [2]

"Magis," a Latin word meaning "more," is often cited in reference to goals of Jesuit education, which seeks to help students become better, do more, and have as much impact on society as possible. How do you hope to achieve the Magis in your life?

I look to my left and there it is. I look to my right and there it is again. I just seem unable to escape the horrors of the ugly "decorations" my mom has hung up all around our house. Everyday I would walk into my room and wish that those dollar store bought frames were not hanging up on my walls, ruining my room's aesthetic. In each one of those frames, my mom has written the phrase, "Study for the benefit of others. Why not change the world?" I never thought of those phrases as anything other than clichés. However, with each passing day and each passing glance at the wall, I have come to appreciate those clichés. Those words are no longer words on a piece of printer paper; now they have life and inspire me to live vigorously, learn vigorously, and aim to do more with my life. I hope to achieve the Magis in my life by devoting myself to service and care through medicine. Eventually, my goal is to become a member of the Doctors Without Borders community and travel to different countries providing medical care. My journey begins at Boston College, where a multitude of opportunities and knowledge awaits me. There (or here? not sure which one to use), I will be challenged to be a woman of others. At the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences, I will be able to learn from the most prestigious and dedicated professors who will nurture my knowledge in the field of biochemistry. Furthermore, I will be able to take full advantage of the many research opportunities and internships that are available in the city of Boston. The people I will encounter, the relationships that I will create, and the many "ah-ha" moments that I will experience at Boston College are all tools that will assist me in achieving those goals, written on my walls.